EDUCATION  AT  THE  WEST; 

IN  ITS 

CLAIMS  ON  THE  CHURCH. 


A 

DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 

SOCIETY  FOR  PROMOTING  COLLEGIATE  AND  THEOLOGICAL 
EDUCATION  AT  THE  WEST,  IN  THE  CENTRAL  CHURCH, 
NEW  HAVEN,  OCTOBER  26,  1848, 

BY  ✓ 

J.  B .  CONDIT, 

Pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Newark,  New  Jersey. 


NEW  YORK: 
M:   W.   DODD,  PUBLISHER, 

Brick  Church  Chapel,  opposite  the  City  Hall. 

1  849. 


"  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Board  be  communicated  to  the  Rev, 
Dr.  Condit,  for  his  able  and  instructive  Discourse,  delivered  last  evening, 
and  that  he  be  requested  to  furnish  a  copy  of  the  same  for  publication." 

An  extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Directors  of  the 
Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Collegiate  and  Theological  Education  at  the 
West,  at  their  Annual  Meeting  at  New  Haven,  Oct.  26,  1848. 

ASA  D.  SMITH,  Secretary. 


p  80706 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


-I 


https://archive.org/details/educationatwestiOOcond 


DISCOURSE. 


1  Cheon.  xii.,  32. — And  of  the  children  of  Issachar,  which  were  men  that  had 
understanding  of  the  times,  to  know  what  Israel  ought  to  do. 

This  was  the  language  by  which  the  children  of 
Issachar  were  distinguished  among  the  tribes  gathered 
at  Hebron  to  make  David  king  over  all  Israel.  They 
did  not  send  a  large  representation  to  this  great  con- 
vention, yet  they  were  unanimous  and  influential  in 
this  movement.  They  had  led  a  quiet  life  in  their 
tents,  and  had  not  mingled  much  in  public  affairs,  yet 
they  had  been  careful  observers  of  the  politics  of  the 
nation,  of  the  temper  of  the  people  and  of  the  tenden- 
cies of  the  times,  and  therefore  were  prepared  to  exert 
an  important  influence  at  this  interesting  juncture. 
They  may  have  been  distinguished  in  other  things, 
especially  in  their  attention  to  religious  observances ; 
for  it  was  said  of  them,  that  they  should  call  the  peo- 
ple to  the  mountain,  and  there  offer  sacrifices  of  right- 
eousness ;  but  the  distinction  here  noted  is,  that  they 
had  understanding  of  the  times,  to  know  what  Israel 
ought  to  do.  They  so  appreciated  the  circumstances 
of  the  people  and  the  indications  of  Providence,  as  to 
discern  clearly  what  was  their  present  duty. 

It  is  happy  for  the  world  when  God  raises  up  men 
who  understand  their  own  age  ;  who  can  see  the  work 


to  be  done,  and  grasp  it  with  an  intelligent  and  earnest 
mind.    This  feature  of  Providence  is  most  evident  in 
connection  with  some  great  crisis.    There  are  times 
in  the  progress  of  a  people  when  things  are  shaken 
out  of  place ;  when  the  machinery  of  the  State  is 
broken,  and  there  is  spread  over  all  minds  the  appre- 
hension of  fearful  disasters.    Amid  that  quaking  ot 
hearts,  as  if  on  the  border  of  ruin,  God  prepares  men 
who,  enthroned  in  a  serene  moral  elevation,  can  take 
a  calm  and  enlarged  view  of  the  distracted  scene,  pour 
light  on  the  surrounding  darkness,  concentrate  divided 
and  fainting  energies,  and,  throwing  the  power  of  hope 
into  despairing  hearts,  conduct  the  people  in  the  path 
of  safety.     Such  were  the  men  called  to  act  m  our 
struggle  for  liberty.    Undismayed  amid  the  conflicting 
elements,  with  an  eye  which  clearly  saw  the  truth, 
with  a  character  which  inspired  confidence,  and  an 
eloquence  which  carried  conviction  to  the  hearts  ot 
the  people,  they  met  successfully  the  responsibilities 
of  the  period.    Not  less  marked  has  been  the  hand  ot 
God  when  the  Church  has  come  to  a  point  of  solemn 
extremity,  and  men  have  appeared,  as  if  divinely 
trained  to  meet  the  "  awful  moment  to  which  Heaven 
has  joined  great  issues,"  who  have  stood  forth  the 
successful  defenders  of  truth  and  righteousness. 

But  it  is  only  now  and  then  we  meet  a  great  crisis, 
where  there  is  a  mighty  rushing  of  the  cross  currents 
of  mind,  and  all  that  is  dear  to  us  depends  on  a  single 
blow  struck  at  the  right  time.  It  is  not  the  part  of 
wisdom  to  attempt  to  find  a  crisis  in  every  new  devel- 
opment of  circumstances  in  our  position,  for  the  pur- 


1 

pose  of  giving  force  to  our  plea  for  help.  Such  is  the 
nature  of  the  path  in  which  God  is  leading  us,  that  we 
do  not  need  a  crisis  to  create  a  deep  sense  of  respon- 
sibility, or  to  show  us  the  importance  of  understand- 
ing the  times  in  which  we  live  and  what  we  ought  to 
do.  It  is  a  new  path,  in  every  step  of  it  full  of  won- 
ders and  beset  with  perils,  so  that  intelligent,  earnest, 
and  well-considered  action  is  always  demanded. 

On  the  present  occasion  we  are  called  to  consider 
our  duty  in  respect  to  the  western  portion  of  this 
country.  In  deciding  what  the  Church  ought  to  do 
in  that  field,  we  need  not  claim  any  superior  wisdom 
or  understanding.  It  is  not  easy  to  mistake  the  indi- 
cations of  Providence.  We  are  not  to  forget  that 
there  are  different,  though  not  conflicting  departments 
of  effort  inviting  our  energies ;  that  while  the  interests 
of  mind  are  no  where  more  immediately  suspended 
on  what  is  done,  there  is  need  of  wisdom  in  the  ap- 
plication of  our  means  ;  having  reference  not  merely 
to  present,  but  to  lasting  results.  We  are  not  only  to 
sow  the  seed  bountifully,  but  in  such  a  way  that  it  will 
produce,  if  not  the  most  speedy,  yet  at  length  the 
most  abundant  and  permanent  harvest.  But  while 
caution  and  forethought  are  requisite,  there  are  cir- 
cumstances which  sufficiently  indicate  the  kind  of 
work  now  to  be  done. 

We  might  better  understand  this  subject  if  we  had 
compassed  and  surveyed  the  whole  field.  I  wish  it 
had  been  my  privilege  to  go  through  it  in  its  length 
and  breadth,  to  trace  its  mighty  rivers,  to  traverse  its 
mountains  and  valleys,  to  visit  the  homes  of  its  popu- 


8 

lation,  to  mingle  with  its  eager  multitude  pressing  into 
the  wilderness,  and  thus  to  take  with  my  own  eyes 
the  dimensions  of  its  moral  wants-its  ignorance,  er- 
ror and  vice.  Not  having  done  this,  I  shall  be  guided 
by  the  map  which  actual  observers  have  sketched, 
and  resort  to  those  well-settled  principles  and  facts 
from  which  it  is  safe  to  reason.  What  then  does  an 
intelligent  view  of  our  condition  and  relations  show  to 
be  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  that  western  land  at  the 
present  time  ?  In  answering  this  question,  I  shall 
.hall  suggest  some  considerations  which  indicate  the 
duty  of  the  Church  to  aid  efficiently  in  the  work  of 
Christian  education  at  the  West. 

This  work  comprehends  all  that  is  requisite  for  the 
permanent  establishment  of  those  higher  institutions 
of  learning  pervaded  by  Christianity,  which  shall  fur- 
nish really  educated  mind  for  the  professional  classes, 
and  under  the  influence  of  which  the  educational  spirit 
shall  be  awakened,  and  all  the  subordinate  depart- 
ments of  the  system  shall  be  thoroughly  organized 
and  supplied.    These  are  not  the  institutions  m  which 
all  the  people  will  be  educated,  but  we  here  assume 
that  which  will  not  be  denied,  that  they  are  requisite 
to  provide  the  best  education  for  all  the  people.  An 
educational  system  which  has  power  and  prevalence, 
must  have  certain  elevated  centres,  whose  office  it  is 
create  a  high  standard  of  attainment,  to  lift  mind  up 
to  its  best  efforts,  and  direct  it  in  the  career  of  health- 
ful enterprise.    Before  presenting  the  claims  of  this 
work  on  the  Church,  let  me  ask  you  to  consider  its 


9 


importance  and  necessity  in  view  of  the  interesting 
position  of  mind  in  this  nation. 

I.  The  position  which  mind  occupies  in  this  coun- 
try gives  special  urgency  to  the  claims  of  this  cause. 
I  might  direct  your  attention  simply  to  the  value  of 
mind,  its  capacities  and  its  destiny,  without  regard  to 
the  place  to  which  it  is  exalted  in  this  nation.  This 
consideration  is  always  sufficient  to  commend  the 
cause  of  education  to  our  best  sympathies  and  efforts. 
This  gives  weight  to  every  other  consideration — that 
it  is  mind  we  would  educate,  immortal,  and  appoint- 
ed to  a  fearful  and  wonderful  progress.  And  this, 
whether  that  mind  is  roaming  in  the  wilderness ; 
whether  it  is  benighted  and  crushed  under  superstition, 
or  is  shooting  up  within  the  pale  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. It  is  enough  to  show  the  importance  of  institu- 
tions, of  libraries,  and  of  all  the  appropriate  means  for 
the  best  development  of  intellect. 

But  you  are  invited  to  consider  the  place  which 
mind  occupies,  giving  to  the  present  time  the  appella- 
tion, the  age  of  intellect.  This  its  position  is  one  in 
which  the  patriot  and  the  Christian  rejoice,  however 
the  duties  it  imposes  may  fail  to  be  appreciated.  It  is 
evident  if  we  compare  the  intellectual  life  and  energy  of 
the  present  age  with  the  stagnant  mind  previous  to  the 
Reformation  and  revival  of  letters,  when  the  domi- 
nant power  of  the  priesthood  and  the  throne  trampled 
on  its  prerogatives.  It  is  no  less  apparent  if  we 
compare  it  with  the  present  condition  of  mind  under 
the  despotisms  of  the  old  world,  under  which  genera- 
tions have  lived  and  died  slaves  in  intellect.  Mind 


10 


has  here  taken  the  throne  in  politics,  morals  and 
religion.    The  day  of  its  coronation  is  yet  sacred  in 
memory.    It  is  free,  sovereign  mind,  living,  moving 
and  speaking  under  God's  charter  of  law,  liberty  and 
right ;  exercising  its  right  of  thought,  faith  and  speech, 
in  such  relations  as  give  it  the  supreme  power.  It 
occupies  this  exalted  and  responsible  position  in  place 
of  the  political  despot  whose  law  is  force  and  arms ; 
and  in  place  of  the  ecclesiastical  dictator  who  takes 
into  his  custody,  what  Milton  calls,  the  locks  and 
keys  of  every  man's  religious  warehouse,  at  whose 
bidding  "  the  cruse  of  truth  will  run  no  more  oil," 
and  the  lamp  of  heaven  will  give  no  more  light.  It 
is  not  hid  in  a  cloister,  but,  ever  active,  it  is  working 
outwardly,  making  for  itself  ten  thousand  channels 
through  all  departments  of  society.    It  causes  its 
voice  to  be  heard  and  its  power  to  be  felt  wide 
as  the  land,  in  respect  to  all  human  interests.    It  is 
thinking,  planning,  working— it  may  be  often  super- 
ficially or  blindly ;  perhaps  nourishing  itself  by  un- 
healthy aliment,  and  asserting  its  sway  sometimes  in 
language  and  measures  which  betoken  its  incapacity 
or  perversion,  but  its  action  is  every  where  seen  and 
felt.    The  machinery  of  government,  the  periodical 
press,  the  universal  lecturer,  all  attest  it.    This  age 
and  nation  are  committed  to  the  supremacy  of  mind 
on  all  questions  touching  the  administration  of  the 
State,  the  development  of  society  and  the  progress  of 
truth.    On  every  great  question  of  common  interest 
the  nation  is  called  to  consider  and  act.    It  is  an 
occasion  for  the  use  of  the  eloquence  and  talent  of 


11 


those  who  are  able  to  give  the  people  light  and  guide 
their  opinions.  To  the  mind  of  the  people  the  appeal 
is  made  through  all  the  land.  That  mind  utters  its 
voice  in  a  decision  which  no  other  power  on  earth 
can  reverse,  and  which  none  dare  to  resist.  What 
majesty  in  the  movement,  as  the  entire  people  take 
up  the  question,  reason  together,  and  then  in  the 
dignity  of  conscious  right  declare  their  will !  Though 
mind  has  found  its  home  on  the  extreme  border  of 
our  western  settlements,  looking  out  on  regions  upon 
which  no  impress  of  civilization  is  yet  made,  it  is  a 
portion  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  land,  receiving  the 
impulses  which  reach  it  in  a  thousand  channels  and 
sending  back  its  influence  to  the  heart  of  the  nation. 

This  national  intellect  is  placed  in  circumstances 
which  are  adapted  to  nourish  its  vigor  and  give  it  the 
opportunity  for  great  accomplishments.  It  is  not  yet 
determined  that  every  portion  of  it  shall  be  refined  by 
cultivation  and  developed  under  Christian  influences  ; 
that  it  shall  be  taught  to  think  and  act  according  to  its 
responsibilities,  to  stand  erect  in  moral  beauty  and 
hold  its  sceptre  true  to  righteousness  ;  but  it  is  de- 
termined that  it  shall  act  with  great  and  far-reaching 
power.  It  has  received  its  commission  to  act  in 
legislation  and  in  morals  on  a  broad  scale.  It  carries 
that  commission  as  it  marches  westward  across  the 
broad  prairies  and  up  the  mighty  rivers,  with  the 
feeling  of  pride  in  its  supremacy.  It  is  controlling  a 
vast  experiment  in  government  and  religion.  It  is 
fixing  destinies  too  sacred  to  hang  on  the  edicts  of  a 
reckless,  unprincipled  intellect.    Our  career  is  not 


12 


like  an  ancient  race,  in  which  muscular  skill  and 
energy  were  chiefly  put  in  requisition.    It  is  the 
race  of  mind,  in  which  wisdom,  intelligence  and 
righteousness  are  especially  demanded  ;  in  the  result 
of  which  we  are  to  gain  or  lose  a  crown  of  moral 
glory.    The  promotion  of  our  welfare  as  a  nation  is 
not  dependent  on  the  well-organized  police,  arrayed 
with  flashing  steel  to  awe  the  multitude.    Mind  holds 
the  sceptre,  protecting  our  rights,  and  settling  great 
questions  of  order,  morality  and  religion.    It  is  the 
maker  of  law  and  yet  subject  to  law.    It  possesses 
rights  and  privileges  of  which  no  power  on  earth 
can  rob  it ;  while  it  bears  responsibilities  which  are 
sacred  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  those  rights  and 
privileges.    Its  sovereignty  involves  individual  trust 
and  advantage.    Hence  is  derived  the  grand  motive 
for  qualifying  every  portion  of  mind  to  meet  the 
requisitions  of  such  a  position.    Hence  also  it  ap- 
pears that  the  strength  of  that  sovereignty  lies  not  in 
the  constitution  which  embodies  its  doctrines,  nor  in 
any  roll  of  legislation,  but  in  the  conformity  of  mind 
to  its  invested  trust.   The  growing  mind  of  the  West 
does  not,  by  virtue  of  the  endowment  of  sovereignty, 
acquire  such  a  conformity.    The  reception  of  such  a 
trust  does  not  ensure  a  healthful  social  development. 
It  does  not  beget  the  social  and  family  virtues.  Con- 
tiguity of  mind  is  not  of  course  the  producer  of  civili- 
zation, morality  and  happiness.    Neither  is  elevation 
the  natural  result  of  the  extension  of  mind. 

I  do  not  propose  to  present  any  estimate  of  the 
amount  of  ignorance  already  existing  at  the  West, 


13 


which  must  be  perpetuated  and  greatly  augmented  if 
the  educational  work  is  not  liberally  and  systemati- 
cally prosecuted.    The  smallest  estimate  which  any, 
acquainted  with  the  subject,  have  made,  is  large 
enough  to  show  that  a  great  work  is  to  be  done 
for  mind  there  to  fit  it  for  the  position  which  it  is 
called  to  occupy  in  this  land.    I  do  not  stop  to  de- 
scribe, what  has  so  often  been  done,  its  diversified 
types,  arising  from  national  origin  and  religious  opin- 
ions.   I  would  simply  present  it  in  its  position  and 
relations  in  this  age  of  intellect  and  in  this  land  of 
free  institutions,  that  you  may  see  it  to  be  an  agent 
which  is  earnestly  to  be  cared  for  in  the  application 
of  such  a  system  of  education  as  shall  develop,  mould 
and  direct  it  in  accordance  with  its  high  trust.  It 
must  thus  appear,  that  to  furnish  the  means  for  high 
intellectual  and  moral  culture  is  our  policy  and  our 
duty  in  what  we  do  .for  the  West    It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  determine  what  will  be  the  result  as  to  the 
character  of  western  mind  without  such  a  system  of 
education;  whether  it  will  sink  into  barbarism,  or 
whether  it  will  bow  to  the  arm  and  dictation  of  a 
corrupt  priesthood,  trained,  and  at  the  same  time 
trammelled  by  the  hands  of  Jesuitical  educators. 
Let  its  present  position  reveal  to  us  the  necessity  of 
such  Christian  educational  institutions  as  we  propose 
to  sustain  at  the  West.    Does  not  such  a  work  ap- 
peal with  urgent  claims  to  the  Church  of  Christ  ? 
Let  us  consider, 

II.  Some  reasons  why  the  Church  should  engage 
in  it. 


14 


1.  The  work  of  Christian  education  is  not  incon- 
S1stent  with  the  office  and  design 
would  assign  to  the  Church  no  work ^whic m.  «» 
sistent  with  her  nature  and  objects.    Let  her  re 

Kp  hPld  sacred  to  the  aims  and  enterprises 
sources  be  held  sacreu  w  uio 

for  which  she  was  founded.    It  is  easy  to  see  that 
she  is  out  of  her  appropriate  sphere  when   he  be- 
omes  a  competitor  in  the  field  of  commercial  em- 
prise and  of  political  strife,  or  adopts  any  m  ie 
secular  scheme  for  her  own  .^^ment.  But* 
is  not  easy  to  see  that  she  is  out  of  it,  when  aiming 
to  give  to  the  intellect  of  a  nation  the  blessings  of  a 
thorough  Christian  education.    She  is  evidently  false 
to  her  principles  when  she  clothes  herself  »  battite- 
arm    and  marches  to  the  field  of  bloody  s  rife .for 
the  propagation  of  the  truth.    But  she  is  not  false  to 
L  principles  when  she  expends  her  resources  to 
train  up  men  who  shall  go  forth, 

«  Active  and  firm,  to  fight  the  Woodless  igb 
Of  science,  freedom  and  the  truth  in  Chnst. 

She  is  not  doing  her  appropriate  work  when  she  is 
employed  in  setting  up  earthly  thrones,  and  putting 
clowns  on  the  head°s  of  kings.  But  why  is  it  not  her 
office  to  do  something  to  enthrone  mind  in  the  empire 
of  knowledge,  and,  by  the  combined  influence  of 
Christianity  and  learning,  crown  it  with  a  glory  in- 
finitely richer  than  the  diadems  of  kings  . 

Th!  Church  is  ordained  to  be  the  mstrum-t  of 
conferring  the  best  blessings  on  man,  both  for  th,s  life 


15 


and  that  which  is  to  come.    She  would  not  be  true 
to  her  mission  if  she  did  not  seek  to  put  mind  in  the 
best  position  for  receiving,  defending  and  spreading 
the  truth ;  calling  out  its  energies  and  fitting  it,  by  all 
possible  aids,  for  the  noblest  sphere  of  action.  An 
ancient  writer  called  Greece  "  the  salt  of  the  na- 
tions." This  was  said  of  Greece  because  it  abounded 
in  learning  and  wisdom.    By  the  light  of  science  it 
scattered  ignorance  and  darkness.    It  was  a  fountain 
of  knowledge  to  which  many  resorted  from  surround- 
ing countries,  and  its  streams  of  intellectual  benefit 
were  sent  forth  far  and  wide.    We  understand  the 
words  of  Christ  in  a  far  higher  sense,  when  he  said  of 
his  people,  "  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth."    It  could 
only  be  said  of  Greece,  its  letters  and  arts  bless  sur- 
rounding nations.    It  sheds  abroad  the  light  of  a 
refined  philosophy,  and  furnishes  the  objects  and 
rewards  of  an  earthly  ambition.    It  could  teach  no 
lessons  that  would  purify  man's  moral  nature.  But 
the  Church  is  the  salt  of  the  earth,  especially,  as  she 
dispenses  lessons  of  Divine  truth,  and  is  the  source  of 
that  light  which  guides,  and  that  power  which  elevates 
to  holiness  and  heaven.    Yet  how  fit  that  she  should 
seek  to  unite  intellectual  elevation  with  moral  purity, 
and  how  beautiful  the  union  !    She  has  no  affinity  for 
ignorance.    Her  doctrines  are  addressed  to  faith,  but 
not  less  to  minds  that  have  been  taught  to  think  and 
reason.    She  rejoices  in  the  light,  and  remonstrates 
against  the  efforts  of  any  who  would  keep  intellect  in 
bondage  and  darkness.  Adopting  the  principle,  "  that 
the  soul  be  without  knowledge,  it  is  not  good ;"  she 


16 


goes  to  the  Indian  and  the  Hottentot  with  the  knowl- 
edge necessary  both  for  this  life  and  the  next,  that  she 
may  raise  them  from  their  degradation  and  darkness. 
Why  is  it  not  her  becoming  work  to  plant  in  this  land 
those  seats  of  Christian  learning  which  shall  qualify 
the  people  for  their  high  responsibilities  ? 

2.  This  work  should  enlist  the  energies  of  the 
Church,  that  a  system  of  education  may  not  be 
established  destitute  of  Christianity.    The  work  of 
education  will  go  on  at  the  West;  but  shall  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Bible  be  excluded?    Is  intellect  to  be 
educated  without  Christian  influence  ?    Consider  the 
blessed  agency  of  a  pure  Christianity  in  fitting  mind 
for  its  best  exercise,  and  in  counteracting  that  which 
would  pervert  its  energy.    All  that  it  is  m  its  lofty 
themes,  in  its  relations  to  human  character  and  des- 
tiny, in  its  moral  efficacy,  is  adapted  to  awaken  and 
elevate  the  intellect.    Not  its  least  important  agency 
is  through  the  light  which  it  sheds  on  the  dignity, 
relations  and  destiny  of  mind.    Without  it  man  does 
not  understand  his  obligation  in  the  use  of  his  powers, 
for  he  does  not  appreciate  them  in  the  light  of  his  re- 
lations to  God  and  immortality.   He  needs  habitually 
to  feel  this  great  truth,  that  mind  shall  not  only  live 
forever,  while  matter  shall  decay  and  these  worlds 
vanish,  but  that  it  was  made,  through  all  its  duration, 
to  glorify  God.    Then  it  rises  to  a  true  conscious- 
ness of  its  solemn  trust  and  destiny.    Hence  only  can 
it  derive  the  inward  force  and  controlling  principle 
which  will  direct  it  in  the  career  of  noble  achieve- 
ment   This  result  occurs  where  Christianity  has  had 


17 


the  opportunity  to  reach  man  with  its  clear  and 
forcible  lessons.    You  see  its  power  in  the  mental 
discipline  as  well  as  moral  purity  which  attends  the 
strict  observance  of  its  precepts.    You  see  it  in  the 
incitement  it  imparts  to  thought,  and  in  the  control  it 
takes  of  the  mental  powers  in  the  pursuit  of  truth; 
preventing  their  abuse  in  fruitless  speculation,  yet 
urging  them  onward  in  the  only  path  of  safe  progress. 
You  see  it  in  the  healthful  enlargement  and  elevation 
of  mind  under  the  sweet,  silent  influence  of  the  Sab- 
bath and  other  Christian  institutions.    In  whatever 
light  you  contemplate  the  power  of  Christianity  over 
the  human  intellect;  whether  in  its  lofty  subjects  of 
thought,  in  the  eternity  of  existence  it  reveals,  in  the 
laws  it  gives  for  the  use  of  the  mental  faculties,  or  in 
the  elevating  influence  of  its  institutions,  it  works 
efficiently  for  the  bringing  out  and  right  direction  of 
that  intellect.    It  puts  it  in  possession  of  the  princi- 
ples which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  human  happiness, 
and  teaches  it  to  carry  them  out  in  action  for  the 
good  of  the  race. 

Let  Christianity  be  made  to  pervade  a  literary  in- 
stitution ;  let  the  minds  there  associated  come  every 
day  under  the  influence  of  its  holy  truths,  and  you 
will  have  a  striking  example  of  its  power,  as  it  there 
holds  up  the  relations  of  each  individual  to  his  Maker; 
the  eternal  laws  of  heaven  for  securing  right  and 
happiness ;  the  essential  principles  of  moral  obliga- 
tion;  and  those  motives  to  action,  which  are  no 
where  found  but  in  the  glorious  revelations  of  the 
gospel.    Can  a  source  of  power  be  found  like  this  to 


18 


prevent  the  waste  of  mind  and  beget  a  firm,  manly 
purpose  of  life  ?    It  may  check  an  excessive,  unhal- 
lowed ambition,  but  it  supplies  more  appropriate  and 
efficient  incitements  than  the  objects  of  such  an  am- 
bition—springs of  the  noblest  aspirations  of  youth  in 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge.  It  may  quench  "  the  hectic 
of  imagined  superiority"  in  some,  but  there  is  im- 
mense benefit  in  bringing  them  down  to  be  seekers  ot 
knowledge  with  the  spirit  of  reverence  and  humility. 
What  knowledge  of  self,  what  knowledge  of  man, 
what  enlarged  views  of  the  capacity  and  range  ot 
mind  as  well  as  of  its  responsibilities,  are  obtained 
only  under  the  influence  of  Christian  truth !  It  is  the 
doctrine  of  Cicero,  that  the  contemplation  of  celestial 
things  will  make  a  man  think  and  speak  more  sub- 
limely when  he  descends  to  human  affairs ;  and  there- 
fore he  would  have  him  attain  skill  in  the  nature  of 
the  heavenly  bodies.    How  much  more  select  and 
elevating  the  influence  the  mind  will  receive  as  it 
comes  into  communion  with  the  sublime  revelations 
of  Christianity!    Says  Coleridge,  "An  hour  passed 
in  sincere  and  earnest  prayer,  or  in  the  conflict 
with,  and  the  conquest  over  a  single  passion  or  a 
subtle  bosom  sin,  will  teach  us  more  of  thought, 
will  more  effectually  awaken  the  faculty  and  form 
the  habit  of  reflection,  than  a  year's  study  in  the 
schools  without  them."    Thus,  in  view  of  all  the 
purposes  of  education,  religion  is  the  benefactor  ot 
intellect,  when  enthroned  in  an  institution  of  learn- 
ing; when  "the  perfume  of  its  offerings  fills  the 
atmosphere,  when  all  human  learning  is  accomplished 


i 


19 

with  the  spirit  of  devotion,  when  the  recollection  of 
our  dependence  and  our  duties  is  continually  present 
with  the  effort  to  improve  the  faculties  of  the  mind. 
Such  an  institution  will  indeed  be  an  Alma  Mater." 

But  it  is  no  less  important  that  Christianity  should 
pervade  these  higher  institutions  of  learning,  that  it 
may  sanctify  the  mighty  agency  which  they  exert  in 
forming  the  social  state.    I  shall  not  stop  to  show  at 
length  what  this  agency  is,  or  how  it  operates.    It  is 
enough  to  know  that  the  mind  educated  in  these 
institutions  will  be  the  controlling  mind  in  society — 
that  by  it,  chiefly,  the  opinions  and  habits  of  society 
will  be  determined.    This  results  from  the  nature  and 
relations  of  the  social  state.     Educated  minds  will 
occupy  the  posts  of  influence,  and  diffuse  their  power. 
Colleges,  therefore,  are  the  high-places  from  which 
streams  of  influence  descend  and  flow  through  the  land. 
Shall  not  a  pure  Christianity  be  enthroned  in  them  ? 

Social  organization  must  have  a  basis  and  vitality 
other  than  a  mere  theory  of  association  framed  by  the 
political  economist.  The  element  of  vitality  and 
progress  is  not  found  in  conventional  laws.  It  is  an 
easy  thing,  according  to  a  theory,  to  distribute  the  dif- 
ferent orders  of  society,  and  assign  relative  places 
and  duties.  But  what  shall  fit  each  portion  to^  its 
place  and  its  duties  ?  What  shall  mould  those  asso- 
ciated minds  into  uniformity  in  opinions,  habits,  and 
aims  ?  What  shall  bind  them  into  sympathy  with  one 
another,  and  furnish  the  permanent  motives  to  united 
action  and  enterprise  ?  Long  and  varied  experiments 
have  tended  to  fix  the  confidence  of  all  reasonable 


20 


men  in  Christianity  as  the  moulding,  transforming, 
and  harmonizing  power  of  society.    It  comes  with  no 
finely-constructed  theory,  supposing  it  has  the  guar- 
anty of  success  when  it  has  induced  men  to  subscribe  to 
it    It  comes  with  a  penetrating  power  that  goes  down 
into  the  elements  of  character,  affecting  the  principles, 
purposes  and  hopes  of  the  people.    It  takes  posses- 
sion of  the  sources  of  social  influence,  in  the  family 
organization,  in  literature,  in  commercial  enterprise, 
to  purify  and  elevate  them.     Secure  an  intelligent 
recognition  of  the  will  of  God,  and  you  have  es- 
tablished that  supreme  law  which  alone  is  capable 
of  regulating  and  binding  together  diverse  and  con- 
flicting elements.    This  teaches  how  to  harmonize 
the  personal  and  the  common  good.     Then  under 
the  power  of  blended  principle  and  interest,  the  social 
mind  developes  in  order,  according  to  the  law  of  right- 
eousness and  love,  and  not  according  to  caprice  and 
passion.    Then  with  its  growth  and  expansion  it  is 
directed  towards  right  ends.    It  is  not  prepared  for 
great  achievements  by  the  mere  possession  of  equalized 
rights,  but  only  when  the  enjoyment  of  those  r.ghts  is 
secured  by  an  intelligent  fear  of  God,  which  controls 
its  energies  and  projects.    Man  thus  endowed  with 
«  equitable  freedom,"  and  educated  to  regard  the  divine 
will,  attains  his  proper  position  in  the  social  structure. 
Then  he  understands  the  true  idea  of  progress,  not  as 
consisting  in  the  breaking  up  of  orders  and  relations 
which  God  has  established  in  conformity  to  the  ne- 
cessities of  our  nature,  but  in  the  development  of  en- 
ergy and  character,  opinions  and  aims,  in  accordance 


21 


with  God's  system.  Then  he  falls  in  with  the  divine 
plan  which  recognizes  the  universality  of  human  de- 
pravity and  the  efficacy  of  the  Gospel  remedy.  Then 
he  comes  into  sympathy  with  his  fellow-men  in  obe- 
dience to  the  law  of  Christian  love,  and  conforms  to 
the  divine  standard  in  his  views  of  individual  and  so- 
cial responsibility. 

Now  it  is  a  task  worthy  of  the  best  counsels  and 
labors  of  a  generation,  to  put  western  mind  in  such  a 
process  of  development-to  penetrate  all  portions  of 
it  with  the  great  organizing  power-to  imbue  it  with 
the  manly,  yet  genial  sentiments  of  the  Pilgrim  fathers 
and  establish  it  on  the  tried  foundations  which  they 
planted.    In  doing  this,  one  essential  agency  is  edu- 
cation.    It  must  be  that  education  which  combines 
with  sound  learning  the  principles  and  precepts  of 
Christianity.    It  must  be  that  which  recognizes  the 
truth  that  intellect  is  not  the  whole  of  man-that  the 
sovereignty  of  enfranchised  intellect  without  religious 
principle,  will  be  a  reign  of  terror.    Intellect  cannot 
sway  depraved  passions,  but  the  passions  will  sway 
the  intellect.    Sensuality  does  not  acknowledge  the 
force  of  an  intellectual  edict.    The  spirit  of  treachery 
does  not  retreat  before  great  mental  energy,  but  unites 
with  the  highest  intelligence. 

The  work  of  education,  I  have  said,  will  g0  on  at 
the  West  if  the  Church  does  not  engage  in  it.  But 
will  it  be  Christian  education  ?  Will  Christianity,  its 
doctrines  and  precepts,  be  made  to  pervade  the  insti- 

wT^  Ieaming  WMch  the  State  may  establish? 
Will  Chnst  and  the  cross  be  taught  in  connection 


22 

with  human  science?    We  have  no  reason  to  hope 
Ms.    Shall  the  Church,  then,  hesitate  to  employ  tins 
nstrument  of  power  over  western  mind?    How  can 
he  hope  o  Jthe  work  of  Chnstian  civdization  on 
hat  field,  if  she  must  meet  every  where  the  coort* 
"ency  of  a  system  of  education  void  of  Chns- 

^The  duty  of  the  Church  is  plain  in  view  of  the 
necessity  of  a"n  educated  Christian  mimstry  for  the 

WTShe  Christian  ministry  is  the  great  instrumentality 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  world.    Tins  was  deter- 
2  "d  by  the'Head  of  the  Church  in  the  charter  winch 
he  gave  for  this  enterprise.    As  that  charter  wi  1  not 
e  pfrl  tm  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  Lord,  this  will  remain  the  clnef  agency  of  the 
Church    When  Christ  established  it  the  universal 
S  was  perverted  and  corrupted  by  deeply-rooted 
Tors    It  was  not  a  matter  of  small  moment  in  what 
Zj  his  servants  should  engage  in  the  work  of  con- 
verting it  to  the  truth.    It  was  not  a  thing  of  hap- 
hazard when  he  looked  over  the  field,  and  determmed 
t  send  The  living  heralds  up'and  down  the  highways 
of  he  nations.  It  was  not  an  undesigned  phraseology 
In  he  said,  Go,  preaek  my  Gospel.    His  eye  tooked 
beyond  that  age.    It  surveyed  coming  ages  and  ah 
conditions  of  mind,  till  his  name  should  be  known 
over  the  whole  earth. 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten,  too,  that  the  history  of  the 
Church  is  one  unbroken  testimony  to  the  fact,  that 
God  has  selected  the  power  of  the  pulpit  for  bringing 


23 


the  Gospel  to  act  on  the  world.    We  have  only  to 
recall  apostolic  preaching  in  connection  with  apostolic 
triumphs,  the  preaching  and  achievements  of  the  Re- 
formation, Puritan  preaching  and  success,  the  Scottish 
pulpit  and  its  results,  in  the  intelligence  and  piety  of 
Scotland.  The  progress  of  the  Church  in  this  country, 
ever  since  her  foundations  were  laid,  is  identified  with 
vthe  pulpit.    Now  the  Church,  in  accordance  with  the 
voice  of  her  past  history,  looking  out  on  the  field  to 
be  cultivated,  calls  for  living  preachers  to  do  her  work. 
For  no  field  is  this  agency  more  imperiously  demand- 
ed than  for  that  at  the  West.    Take  counsel  on  this 
subject  from  the  character  and  habits  of  western  mind, 
its  way  of  thinking  and  acting,  its  prejudices,  errors, 
and  dangers.    Take  counsel  from  experience,  from 
economy,  from  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  work  to 
be  done,  and  you  will  select  the  Christian  ministry  as 
the  leading  instrumentality  for  the  salvation  of  that 
country.    We  should  so  decide  without  reference  to 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  West,  in  view  of 
the  palpable  evidences  of  the  power  of  the  pulpit  in 
establishing  and  extending  truth  and  righteousness. 
Trace  its  results  at  any  given  point  for  the  space 
of  fifty  years.     The   number  of  souls  converted 
and  prepared  for  heaven  does  not  reveal  the  whole 
truth.    We  shall  find  the  power  of  that  pulpit  inter- 
woven with  the  progress  of  mind,  of  education  and 
morals ;  with  domestic  purity  and  order ;  in  one  word, 
with  the  whole  social  prosperity  and  elevation  of  the 
people.     Then  we  should  have  confirmation  of  the 
truth  of  the  remark,  "The  Christian  ministry  has 


24 


taught  the  Christian  world,  and  is  now  more  effectu- 
ally employed  than  any  other  class  of  men,  in  mould- 
ina  the  common  mind."  There  we  should  see,  too, 
that  though  the  prophets  die,  there  is  a  precious  sense 
in  which  they  live  forever.  They  live  in  the  minds 
they  have  trained  in  the  knowledge  of  God.  They 
live  in  the  opinions,  the  habits,  the  piety  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  ground  teems  with  the  monuments  of  then- 
influence,  which  is  incorporated  with  the  successive 
generations  of  mind. 

And  what  must  that  ministry  be,  which  can  do  the 
work  in  the  western  field?     May  it  be  only  that 
which  will  satisfy  ignorance,  and  acquires  its  reputa- 
tion by  denouncing  the  hireling?  or  that  which  can 
obtain  a  hearing,  simply  because  there  is  no  other  ? 
If,  where  society  is  organized  under  the  influences  of 
Christianity,  such  a  ministry  would  be  rejected  as 
incompetent,  most  certainly  where  the  process  of  or- 
ganization is  yet  to  be  accomplished  amid  such  dis- 
cordant elements  as  are  found  at  the  West,  no  tame 
or  feeble  ministry  will  meet  the  necessity.     If  the 
strong,  bold,  wakeful  ministry  is  needed  any  where,  it 
is  needed  there,  to  educate  mind  in  a  right  faith,  amid 
bold  advocates  of  captivating  errors,  and  hold  it  fixed 
to  the  truth,  amid  its  chafings,  struggles,  and  wander- 


ings. 


This  being  the  grand  agency  for  the  evangelization 
of  the  West,  I  now  add,  such  a  ministry  ought  as 
soon  as  possible  to  be  educated  on  the  ground.  We 
cannot  wait  till  this  can  be  done  to  the  full  extent  of 
the  necessity.    The  field  is  extending  so  rapidly  that 


25 

a  ministry  from  the  East,  as  numerous  as  she  can 
spare,  must  for  a  long  time  be  furnished.  But  who 
does  not  see  that  this  supply  must  come  far  short  of 
the  growing  wants  of  the  people  ?  And  who  does  not 
also  see  that  a  native  ministry  is  greatly  desirable 
for  that  land  ?  It  should  be  composed  of  the  sons  of 
the  West,  trained  up  amid  its  natural  scenery,  breath- 
ing its  air,  communing  with  its  forests  and  its  prairies, 
sympathizing  with  its  struggles  and  its  hopes,  and 
committed  to  its-  destinies.  This  is  the  ministry  that 
will  find  most  ready  access  to  the  people,  and  most 
successfully  go  through  the  trials  incident  to  the 
work. 

And  how  shall  the  Church  prepare  such  a  ministry  ? 
The  institutions  of  learning  must  be  on  the  ground. 
They  must  be  in  their  furniture  and  resources,  what 
is  demanded  by  the  object  to  be  attained— the 
thorough  education  of  mind.  They  are  wanted  in  the 
midst  of  the  people,  if  for  nothing  else,  to  spread  that 
silent,  but  mighty  and  far-reaching  power  which  ever 
goes  out  from  such  institutions,  to  awaken  and  ele- 
vate mind,  and  direct  its  progress  in  all  the  arts  of 
civilization.  They  are  wanted,  if  for  nothing  else,  to 
furnish  a  controlling,  educated  mind  for  all  the  learned 
professions,  by  which  shall  be  promoted  the  spread 
of  intelligence,  and  the  building  up  of  the  whole  edu- 
cational interest.  But  they  are  needed  especially  for 
the  training  of  a  Christian  ministry.  Without  them, 
how  will  the  Church  prepare  such  a  ministry  for  that 
western  land  ? 

4.  The  results  of  what  the  Church  has  done  in  the 


26 


work  of  Christian  education  indicates  her  duty  and 
policy  in  relation  to  the  West. 

We  need  not  review  at  this  time  the  history  of  the 
Church,  to  show  that  she  has  been  the  patron  of 
learning  in  the  founding  of  schools — that  she  has 
counted  it  her  province  to  give  the  people  knowledge 
and  educate  mind  for  the  defense  and  propagation  of 
the  truth.  She  early  began  this  work ;  in  the  sec- 
ond and  succeeding  centuries  erecting  schools  at 
Alexandria,  Csesarea,  Antioch  and  other  places,  and 
establishing  libraries  at  various  points.  Thus  she 
prepared  the  means  for  her  extension  in  the  world. 
She  has  never  resigned  this  trust.  Not  less  in  later 
than  in  primitive  times,  has  she  addressed  herself 
successfully  to  the  work  of  education.  Your  atten- 
tion is  particularly  directed  to  what  the  Church  has 
done  in  this  land.  The  promotion  of  education  in 
the  establishment  of  the  higher  institutions  of  learn- 
ing was  her  policy  from  the  first  settlement  of  this 
country.  There  is  "  a  law  by  which  most  incon- 
siderable moral  agents  and  actions  are  made  the  in- 
cipient points  whence  trains  of  agencies,  proceeding 
on  with  continual  accession,  enlarge  into  effects  of 
immense  magnitude."  This  remark  has  an  illustra- 
tion in  the  early  foundations  of  learning  and  Chris- 
tianity, which  were  laid  by  the  wisdom,  zeal  and  self- 
denial  of  our  fathers.  Some  of  the  causes  that  early 
began  to  form  the  moral  strength  and  beauty  of  New 
England,  may  have  become  "  so  diffused  and  blended 
into  the  general  conformation  of  things,  that  their 
distinguishable  color  does  not  remain  obvious."  But 


27 


none  will  put  among  these  our  institutions  of  learning. 
They  were,  indeed,  at  first  small  beginnings,  made 
with  much  difficulty  and  sacrifice.  But  if  then  they 
were  little  fountains,  they  have  sent  forth  never- 
ceasing  streams  to  bless  the  land.  If,  at  first,  they 
were  sparks,  they  have  become  great  central  lights, 
shedding  a  broad  and  benignant  radiance  over  the 
spreading  mind.  If  they  then  seemed  very  incon- 
siderable agents,  they  have  gathered  a  vast  power, 
creating  and  sustaining  trains  of  agencies,  the  results 
of  which  are  yet  accumulating  in  the  selectest  bless- 
ings to  man.  To  them,  through  their  silent  power, 
and  through  the  agencies  of  which  they  are  the 
sources,  we  trace  the  noblest  elements  of  our  social 
happiness.  The  men  who  laid  the  foundations  of 
these  institutions  had  understanding  of  the  times. 
With  a  far-reaching  vision  too  they  looked  to  coming 
times,  to  a  people  great  and  intelligent,  sitting  under 
the  shadow  of  the  trees  which  they  planted,  and  re- 
joicing in  their  fruit.  Were  they  not  guided  by  the 
highest  wisdom,  when  in  our  infancy  they  provided 
for  the  education  of  mind  ?  Has  not  the  policy  of 
the  Church  in  the  East  been  proved  to  be  the  best 
policy?  If  the  Church  had  now  to  begin  such  a 
work  on  new  ground,  looking  to  the  establishment  of 
her  faith,  to  the  promotion  of  intelligence,  morality  and 
piety,  to  the  highest  development  of  physical  and 
mental  resources,  would  she  not  begin  as  she  did 
here ;  lay  at  once  the  corner-stone  of  a  college, 
raise  its  walls,  gather  for  it  a  library,  put  in  it  her 
ablest  men  as  teachers,  and  consecrate  all  "  to  Christ 


28 


and  the  Church  ?"  Would  she  not  think  at  once  of 
the  want  of  men  qualified  to  teach  the  growing  popu- 
lation, and  of  learned,  godly  men  to  occupy  the  pulpit, 
and  show  the  people  the  way  of  salvation  ?  This 
would  be  her  plan,  if  she  designed  to  make  another 
community  intelligent  and  virtuous,  like  that  inhabit- 
ing these  hills  and  valleys. 

And  does  the  work  to  be  done  at  the  West  essen- 
tially differ  from  this  ?  The  condition  of  that  country 
is  not  in  all  respects  like  our  early  state.  Yet  it  is 
the  peopling  of  a  new  territory,  though  far  more 
rapidly.  It  is  the  laying  of  foundations  for  a  vast 
social  structure.  If  it  was  desirable  here  to  have  the 
incipient  points  of  influence  in  these  higher  institu- 
tions of  learning  fixed  at  the  very  outset,  it  is  even 
more  desirable  there,  where  communities  are  spring- 
ing up  in  a  day,  and  the  elements  to  be  moulded  are 
so  various  and  powerful.  The  policy  that  has  made 
the  East  will  make  the  West,  and  no  other  will  make 
it,  intelligent,  moral  and  happy.  A  college  there, 
furnished  with  all  the  apparatus  for  thorough  instruc- 
tion, can  accomplish  the  same  work  which  the  col- 
leges of  the  East  have  accomplished.  What  shall 
prevent  Hudson,  Wabash  or  Illinois  College  from 
being  the  fountain  of  the  same  precious  influences, 
by  means  of  educated  mind  ?  They  were  founded 
in  faith  and  prayer  for  the  same  ends.  They  are 
Christian  seminaries,  consecrated  to  Christ  from 
their  foundations.  They  propose  to  pursue  the 
same  liberal  and  thorough  course  of  instruction. 
They  have  a  wide  field  in  which  to  operate.  A 


29 

great  amount  of  mind  is  ready  to  receive  their  mould- 
ing power.  God  has  given  them  signal  blessings. 
They  are  planted  at  favorable  points  for  impressing 
mind.  You  could  not  ask  better  soil  than  is  there 
offered,  in  which  to  sow  the  seeds  of  truth.  If  in- 
tellectual and  moral  achievements  are  made  slowly 
there,  they  may  be  made  at  length  on  a  large  scale. 
They  who  wield  the  educational  power  through  such 
Christian  institutions  will  witness  such  results  as  have 
appeared  here.  Does  not  the  fruit  of  her  past  labors 
in  the  cause  of  education  indicate  the  obligation  of 
the  Church  to  western  mind  ? 


The  want  of  time  forbids  me  to  do  little  more  than 
allude,  in  conclusion,  to  the  importance  of  securing 
an  accession  to  the  power  of  the  Church  in  the 
rightly  educated  mind  of  the  West.    If  in  the  views 
presented  in  this  discourse  we  have  not  misconceived 
the  nature  and  results  of  the  educational  work,  it  is 
plain  that  if  the  Church  will  educate  the  West,  she 
will  gain  the  victory  on  that  great  battle-ground.  As 
you  look  at  the  people  in  their  growing  numbers,  in 
the  broad  land  they  cover,  in  the  wealth  of  their  soil, 
in  their  independence  and  self-reliance,  and  mark  the 
wonderful  destiny  that  awaits  them,  the  momentous 
question  is  suggested,  shall  the  Church  take  posses- 
sion of  the  energy  of  that  mind  for  the  defense  of  her 
principles  and  the  diffusion  of  her  blessings  ?  Shall 
that  mind  be  imbued  with  Christianity,  be  educated 
under  the  reign  of  Christian  institutions,  and  so  link 
its  power  with  the  Church  of  Christ?     Such  an 


30 

accomplishment  will  not  only  be  so  much  mind  saved 
from  ignorance  and  error,  fitted  for  the  enjoyment  of 
social  and  political  blessings,  and  presenting  a  spec- 
tacle of  moral  beauty ;  but  so  much  added  to  the 
executive  power  of  the  Church  in  her  designs  of  love 
to  the  world.  In  the  want  of  such  an  accomplish- 
ment, not  only  will  so  much  mind  be  lost,  but  it  will 
be  committed  against  the  efforts  of  the  Church,  with 
peculiar  facilities  for  impeding  her  designs.  What 
field  can  she  enter  with  the  prospect  of  a  nobler, 
richer  conquest  ? 

That  mind  is  gathering  a  power  that  will  be  felt. 
It  will  impress  itself  on  the  world  for  good  or  evil. 
It  is  nurtured  under  stirring  influences.    From  it, 
institutions  and  opinions  will  receive  strong  impulses. 
The  rivers  will  still  run  down  their  courses,  the  ever- 
lasting mountains  will  remain,  but  in  the  movement 
of  this  advancing  intellect  there  is  already  felt  the 
precursor  of  some  fearful  developments.    You  cannot 
crush  this  mind,  you  cannot  sink  it.    It  possesses  the 
elements  of  life  and  power,  of  which  you  cannot  rob 
it.    To  what  shall  its  growing  strength  be  devoted  ? 
A  correct  appreciation  of  its  position  and  destiny, 
points  the  Church  to  a  golden  opportunity  of  making 
the  conquest  of  it  for  herself.    If  over  that  land  the 
blended  light  of  science  and  Christianity  shall  shine, 
forming,  guiding  and  enriching  mind,  so  that  it  shall 
fulfill  its  trust  in  the  State  and  in  the  Church,  and 
reflect  to  the  Pacific  shore  the  moral  beauty  and 
glory  of  the  East,  coming  generations  will  bless  the 
hand  of  earnest  charity,  which  aided  thus  early  in  the 
work  of  Christian  education. 


